8 Starter Tips For Perfect Cupcakes

It is possibly the most important tip, use the best possible ingredients. For great cupcakes, splurging a little on quality chocolate, cocoa powder or real vanilla extract will result in a better taste to your cupcake recipe, or any recipe for that matter.

It’s not a bad idea to do a taste test to check it out. Take a little cupcake batter and bake a single cupcake with some lesser quality ingredients and bake off the rest of the cupcake batter with higher quality ingredients. You’ll definitely notice the difference! As the old saying goes, “the proof is in the cupcake batter.”

Placing your ingredients, like the butter, eggs, and milk, out on the counter for about an hour before baking will help all of the ingredients incorporate a lot better.

Room temperature ingredients are easy to mix; Therefore, yielding a smooth batter that will result in fluffy, moist cupcakes. If your cupcake batter is not properly combined, you’ll most likely end up with cupcakes that are more dense. This is a useful tip to use with all baking recipes.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that, “Baking is a science”. Well, that is a indeed true. If you end up over-mixing the cupcake batter, especially when it’s time to add your dry ingredients, you will more than likely end up with a gummy, dense cupcake.

Following the recipe is crucial, but sometimes they are a little vague. For example, you will come across phrases like ‘mix until combined’. I believe they should say, ‘mix until just combined’.

Ideally you want to mix the dry ingredients until they’re just combined, which might only take a few seconds. If the dry ingredients are not fully incorporated, you could finish mixing (gently) using a rubber spatula (by hand).

Most people love using their stand up mixer and measuring cups, but one tool that’s often overlooked is the trust ice cream scoop. Aside from scooping ice cream with it, it is an amazing tool to evenly scoop cupcake batter into your liners. To get a uniform look, even baking time for all cupcakes, using the ice cream scoop allows even distribution of the cupcake batter.

It’s pretty much a standard rule to pre-heat your oven. If you place your cupcakes in an oven that hasn’t reached the proper temperature, then you will likely over bake your cupcakes and end up with dried out desserts.

It’s wise to invest in an oven thermometer to ensure the internal temperature of your oven, every single time. Another piece of advice: As hard as it is and as much as our inner excited child wants to come out, do not open the oven door! It’s exhilarating to see how the cupcakes are coming along, but a that change in temperature from opening the door can really mess with the baking process.

This tip is constantly being forgotten. Please, please, please remove the baked cupcakes out of the pan after about a minute or two – then let them properly cool on a cooling rack. If you decide to keep them in the hot pan, they will continue baking and dry out.

In order to save your cupcakes from drying out, it’s important to store them in an airtight container (Tupperware usually does the trick). If your cupcakes are un-frosted, you can actually freeze them (also using an airtight container). Save time by baking a large batch of cupcakes ahead of time and freeze the un-frosted cupcakes in a Tupperware.

Do you want a cool way to seal in the cupcakes moisture? Well, believe it or not, the frosting/icing actually helps them retain their moisture. Spread or pipe the frosting/icing over the entire cupcake all the way to the edges.

This is helpful, especially if you’re taking your cupcakes to an event or party where they may be sitting out for a long period of time.

Oh, I almost forgot, if you happen to be lugging your cupcakes to a party, it’s a good idea to invest in a cupcake carrier. They’re super convenient and make it so easy to transport your perfect cupcakes.

Check out this amazing chocolate buttercream frosting. It’s absolutely delicious!